With all due respect to the president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Snohomish County, we do not need to “decriminalize mental illness,” as stated in his Tuesday letter. It is not a crime to be mentally ill. What is a crime is threatening to blow people up to get money, which is what this man was convicted of.
The problem is not the “criminalization” of mental illness, it is that we have allowed laws to come into effect which place all decisions about mental health treatment into the hands of the mentally ill. By definition, a mentally ill person is not necessarily rational about their care. They may not like the side effects of drugs and/or decide to quit taking medication because now they feel better. They may not be able to accurately gauge their behavior in terms of its effects on others. There is no legal way to intervene and force someone to be medicated/treated if they don’t want to be.
I understand the history of mental illness and the disturbing latitude that was allowed formerly in committing others to mental wards. Surely, we do not want a repeat of that. However, we also cannot hand the mentally ill a “get out of jail free” card when they choose not to be medicated and commit crimes. Someone who has a habitual criminal history needs to be held accountable for their actions. Choosing not to be medicated (as this man apparently did), knowing that being non-medicated tended to lead him to criminal activity, was his choice. At a certain point, he needs to be held responsible for that choice.
I would agree that there is much in the way of education and legal changes that need to occur to protect and help the mentally ill population.
Removing their responsibilities to be good citizens is not one of them.
Denise Foster
Snohomish
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